Mystery gray chipmunk chick

Talehlee

Hatching
Mar 9, 2022
7
3
6
Hey all! So I got a batch of 10 chicks from tractor supply. 3 olive Eggers, one of which is way more white on the bottom with much heavier feathers on the leg so I am debating if it's a color difference or a different breed. Three chipmunk like chicks - two of which are more yellow/cream colored and one thats gray and just today has some brown showing up. (She also is non stop chirping unless being held which I thought was a heat issue but doesn't stay under the broodlamp). These three are supposedly ameracaunas/easter eggers but may be wellsummers? Two yellow chicks which I think are meant to be brahmas and two Rhode island reds. I have had them for about three days now, and all now are starting to feather with the Rhode island reds starting their tail feathers so they are likely a dash older but all are around 1 to 1.5 weeks from what I've seen in research. If someone could assist in conforming their breeds that'd be stellar- as I am still puzzled by the gray chipmunk as well as the much more vibrant white on the bigger olive egger.

Are there any good resources that list chicks by age/breed for better determination?
I am a first time chicken owner, and my husband kind of randomly picked them out by color because I was taking to long to decide so now I'm all mixed up on who is who and what breeds were unsexed! The only ones I know for sure are the rhode island reds, and they were mixed but I believe both of these will be hens, although one is lighter and a bit smaller than the other.

Picture order:
1&2 = Mystery gray chick - Supposed to be easter egger?
3 = Chipmunk yellow chicks - Easter eggers or wellsummer?
4 = The olive eggers - the one on the right is larger and way more feathered on the feet and much more white on the underside so honestly not sure if its the same type!
5 = Brahama? I have two of these but they are fiesty
6 = Rhode island reds, the one in the back is either growing faster or just older by a dash as she started getting tail feathers today.
 

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Hey all! So I got a batch of 10 chicks from tractor supply. 3 olive Eggers, one of which is way more white on the bottom with much heavier feathers on the leg so I am debating if it's a color difference or a different breed. Three chipmunk like chicks - two of which are more yellow/cream colored and one thats gray and just today has some brown showing up. (She also is non stop chirping unless being held which I thought was a heat issue but doesn't stay under the broodlamp). These three are supposedly ameracaunas/easter eggers but may be wellsummers? Two yellow chicks which I think are meant to be brahmas and two Rhode island reds. I have had them for about three days now, and all now are starting to feather with the Rhode island reds starting their tail feathers so they are likely a dash older but all are around 1 to 1.5 weeks from what I've seen in research. If someone could assist in conforming their breeds that'd be stellar- as I am still puzzled by the gray chipmunk as well as the much more vibrant white on the bigger olive egger.

Are there any good resources that list chicks by age/breed for better determination?
I am a first time chicken owner, and my husband kind of randomly picked them out by color because I was taking to long to decide so now I'm all mixed up on who is who and what breeds were unsexed! The only ones I know for sure are the rhode island reds, and they were mixed but I believe both of these will be hens, although one is lighter and a bit smaller than the other.

Picture order:
1&2 = Mystery gray chick - Supposed to be easter egger?
3 = Chipmunk yellow chicks - Easter eggers or wellsummer?
4 = The olive eggers - the one on the right is larger and way more feathered on the feet and much more white on the underside so honestly not sure if its the same type!
5 = Brahama? I have two of these but they are fiesty
6 = Rhode island reds, the one in the back is either growing faster or just older by a dash as she started getting tail feathers today.
At this age, it's kind of hard to tell anything for sure, however I can tell you some things. The gray one is an Easter Egger.
The two chipmunk ones are two different breeds. It's kind of hard to tell from the picture if the one in the back has muffs. If it does, it's an EE. If not, then it could be one of several breeds, like Welsummer or Speckled Sussex. What color are the legs?
The one in the front actually kind of looks like an Old English Game Bantam. Is she really as small as she looks in the picture?
The three chicks in the 4th pic all have feathered legs. Again, it's kind of hard to tell at this age, but I think you're right in that the whiter one is a different breed. I think that one might be a Cochin, and the other two are Marans.
For the yellow one in the 5th picture, it's very hard to tell anything from that photo, besides the fact that it has feathered feet. I'm guessing it's probably a cochin too, but a close picture of the comb would be good.
The last two do look like RIRs.
 
At this age, it's kind of hard to tell anything for sure, however I can tell you some things. The gray one is an Easter Egger.
The two chipmunk ones are two different breeds. It's kind of hard to tell from the picture if the one in the back has muffs. If it does, it's an EE. If not, then it could be one of several breeds, like Welsummer or Speckled Sussex. What color are the legs?
The one in the front actually kind of looks like an Old English Game Bantam. Is she really as small as she looks in the picture?
The three chicks in the 4th pic all have feathered legs. Again, it's kind of hard to tell at this age, but I think you're right in that the whiter one is a different breed. I think that one might be a Cochin, and the other two are Marans.
For the yellow one in the 5th picture, it's very hard to tell anything from that photo, besides the fact that it has feathered feet. I'm guessing it's probably a cochin too, but a close picture of the comb would be good.
The last two do look like RIRs.
So the two chipmunk yellow ones are a bit on the smaller side, however the lighter one isn't much smaller than the one in the back (she was just laying down and the other was "puffing" up at me). All of the chipmunk looking chicks have yellow legs/skin. In fact, all but the black chicks have yellow feet. I am not sure what muffs would be (super new) but the one in the back is darker and more "patterned" than the one in the front. Both still have mostly down with just a dash of pins coming in on the wings that started today it seems. I doubt the one in front would be an Old English, as I don't recall those being available in the store at the time but there is always a chance of it I guess - just unlikely. I believe the only things in their bin were wellsummers and ameracaunau chicks, both supposed to be all pullets.
And the three in the 4th do all have feathered legs, the two darker ones just have much less on their legs and more black on their legs as well. All three have black and yellow on the legs, but the whiter one has less black, ending before the toes start. Because these guys were labeled as olive eggers, it's likely they are just from different parents. I did a bit more googling and found out that "olive eggers" aren't really a thing and are just mixes of the breeds you mentioned as well as others.
The yellow in the picture (both of them) are very stubborn and don't like sitting still but are solid yellow down on yellow legs, with a comb that is barely there aside from the two bumps by the nostrils. They both have very heavily feathered legs.

The Rhode island reds, thankfully, are already developing well it seems and are by far the larger ones (followed by the yellow chicks, then the chipmunks, then the black chicks.) The smallest out of all of them is the black chick in the middle. I am getting a scale tomorrow to keep tract of their weight gain because said small chick, and the lighter chipmunk, don't seem to be putting on weight the past few days.

Judging by the fact that all of them are around a week, ish, do you know what kind of weight gain I should be looking out for? I know current weight would depend on their breed, part of the reason for trying to get clarification on it, but gain wise it should be fairly exponential at this point I'm guessing.
 
So the two chipmunk yellow ones are a bit on the smaller side, however the lighter one isn't much smaller than the one in the back (she was just laying down and the other was "puffing" up at me). All of the chipmunk looking chicks have yellow legs/skin.
Okay, so probably not an OEGB then. For those two, I would wait until they feather in more, and then post some new photos.

And the three in the 4th do all have feathered legs, the two darker ones just have much less on their legs and more black on their legs as well. All three have black and yellow on the legs, but the whiter one has less black, ending before the toes start. Because these guys were labeled as olive eggers, it's likely they are just from different parents. I did a bit more googling and found out that "olive eggers" aren't really a thing and are just mixes of the breeds you mentioned as well as others.
You're right, olive eggers are mixes. But, they generally have a certain way that they look, and those three look nothing like OEs.

The yellow in the picture (both of them) are very stubborn and don't like sitting still but are solid yellow down on yellow legs, with a comb that is barely there aside from the two bumps by the nostrils. They both have very heavily feathered legs.
Does the comb look like either of these?

1646856006767.png
Screen Shot 2022-03-09 at 3.03.15 PM.png
 
Does the comb look like either of these?

View attachment 3019535View attachment 3019537

So the second comb in this picture, where it is smooth is the how all their combs except three look. It isn't as "bumped up" as in this image, but they are definitely smooth. The Rhode island reds both have ridges and the darker of the black chicks has a ridge as well, the smaller one in my images above. One interesting thing of note would be that the black chicks have black beaks, however their combs are lighter - maybe white? It's not as yellow as the others, but I only have these guys to compare it to. And the black chick with the white underbelly has less of her comb being white. Just the very top part is basically. I can't find many good images of a "typical" olive egger chick and I think that's mainly because I just keep running across adult pictures (and even those look like totally different hens to me).
 
I think that in a week or so they will all have started feathering out much more, and I can post updates then. I am going to be posting up another thread for the gray one for some size/crop/behavior concerns also. I'll set the link here just in case you happen to have any advice on that too! Been super helpful with some of the others - and I know more potential types to look at/up as they grow as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...appens-and-effects-chicks-negatively.1514376/
 
So the second comb in this picture, where it is smooth is the how all their combs except three look. It isn't as "bumped up" as in this image, but they are definitely smooth. The Rhode island reds both have ridges and the darker of the black chicks has a ridge as well, the smaller one in my images above. One interesting thing of note would be that the black chicks have black beaks, however their combs are lighter - maybe white? It's not as yellow as the others, but I only have these guys to compare it to. And the black chick with the white underbelly has less of her comb being white. Just the very top part is basically. I can't find many good images of a "typical" olive egger chick and I think that's mainly because I just keep running across adult pictures (and even those look like totally different hens to me).
Hmm, interesting. As I said, it is very hard to tell anything for sure at this age, so definitely update once they feather out a little more!
 

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